T. Novan - Words Heard In Silence / Xena Uber

He settled at his desk. It was time for his usual morning routine, reading and writing the dispatches, attending to the paperwork of command. Polk was due back today. With a little luck, his second in command may have found some cigars. His own stock had been stolen in the brush up at Brandy Station. The afternoon would be spent going over the supplies issues and planning the things needed to ensure secure winter quarters for the men.

The morning dispatches included a telegram from Sheridan. It was terse, as usual, but exactly what Charlie needed to hear.

Permission granted. Negotiate fees. NMT 100 / month. Walker arrives Wednesday.

Well, first things first. The daily dispatch to headquarters had to be written and posted with the riders. He had established a chain of outposts along the way so that communications between them could be expedited beyond the terse communications enabled by the telegraph system. Post riders changed horses every hour, and thus could cover about 20 miles an hour instead of the more sedate six or seven that was necessary if you maintained the same mount all day.

Nov. 7, 1864

Outside of Culpeper, Virginia

Lieut. General Philip H. Sheridan

Department of the Shenandoah

Dear General Sheridan

As discussed, Mistress Gaines has consented to allow the 13th Pennsylvania to winter over on her property. I will immediately negotiate terms for her, and assume that we will issue demand script for the 100 dollars per month for November through March, as is customary. Considering the economic conditions in the area, I am certain that this will represent a welcome influx of income for the area.

I further assume that you have given Polk the necessary budget for setting up winter quarters. If not, please forward such information to me with the next dispatch.

As is policy, we will seek to build positive relations with the local civilian population. This area has been less affected in terms of the condition of the land and facilities by the war than most other sections of northern Virginia that I have seen. It may provide a basis for beginning the re-constitution of our nation. As such, I will follow the guidelines set down by the President and General Grant for reconstruction of relations. It is my expectation that our mixed troops will be successful in reaching out to the civilian population.

Thank you for assigning Dr. Walker to our regiment again. She is from this area and will be key to our efforts to form effective relations with the local civilian population. As usual, the 13th Pennsylvania will extend what support we can in terms of labor, medical access and interaction to the community.

I must report a sad event within our forces. Major Montgomery, who has led one of the 13th Penn. companies since the Regiment was created, has been badly injured in a riding accident. The injuries include a severe head trauma and we are unable to predict the outcome at this time. I have written to his family, informing them of his condition, and will continue to monitor and advise you and his family of his status.

Integration of the forces from the remnants of the 49th Ohio into this regiment continues at a slow, but reasonable pace. I am confident that our forces will be at full strength and working effectively as a team by the spring campaigns. The decision to distribute the men within the existing companies appears to have been effective.

We begin the process of settling into winter quarters immediately. I expect to be ready for winter inspection, no later than the 15th; assuming funding and resources are provided promptly.

Cordially

Chas. Redmond

Regimental Colonel

13th Pennsylvania Light Cavalry

Once the necessary paperwork was filed, Charlie slipped into his old work clothes, intending to take a run through the extended grounds before the lunch time mess meeting with officers and the afternoon of planning with Polk. Most of the men thought their Colonel’s habit of regularly running long distances was strange. Although he had tried, Charlie had never found a running companion. He found that it provided two benefits that they would never understand. It helped him keep his body weight down, his wind up, and his body profile more like that of a man’s. Second, he had found, quite by accident, that if he stayed more muscular and exercised intensely and regularly, it seemed to stop his courses. When he stopped exercising, his body resumed the normal monthly cycle of a woman.

Running alone did present certain risks. Were enemy scouts to find a regimental colonel without escort, they would attempt to capture or kill him in a heartbeat. When he ran, he dressed as a regular trooper, with hobnail boots, britches and a short, belted tunic. Unlike his officer’s uniform, with its skirted, double-breasted frock coat, this uniform left nothing to the imagination. Charlie made sure that in every way, he presented the profile of a man.

Charlie set out for a long run, heading west away from the encampment. He passed north of the main house, behind the stables and close-in paddocks, across an old hump-backed bridge over Gaines Run and into the western pasturelands on the far side of the pond. After several days of not running, it was a welcome relief, letting his body relax into the old rhythms, his eyes became his sentinels, watching for anything out of the ordinary, and freeing his mind to deal with the problems of the day. By the time he completed his circuit, passing over the log footbridge south of the pond, and back up across the bottom of the back lawn to the stables, he had settled his mind to the task of planning for the winter camp, shoving the dream and the reality of the previous night to the back of his mind. For a while.

Richard Polk and his detachment rode into camp just as Charlie returned from his run. "Polk! Good to see you. Meet me in my command tent as soon as you can. We are wintering over here." Ah. A distraction. Something else to think about other than Rebecca and last night ’ s dreams.

Charlie dunked his head in a bucket of water, and then hurried off to meet Polk.

Polk walked into the command tent. "Greetings oh fearless commander. I bring gifts from the great warehouse at headquarters –– more cigars. And a small keg of that brandy you like so much." Polk’s sense of sarcasm was irrepressible. With that cheerful greeting, Polk pulled up a small campstool and perched on the other side of Charlie’s field desk. He pulled a portfolio out of his dispatch case and spread the papers in front of him. "All right, I started by chewing that greedy ass at supply out royally for sending us uncured leather boots. We went downhill from there. But after two days of haranguing him and personally going through the supply depot and selecting what we needed, I expect a supply train to show up before the end of the week." Both men gleefully opened the small box of cigars, lit up, savored the first taste of the fulsome smoke and set to work.

By time for the noon mess and the daily stand up with the rest of the command staff, Charlie and Polk had all of the major plans worked out. Additional supplies would be needed, and Polk, with the regimental quartermaster, would attend to getting them by hook or crook. The announcement was made at lunch and each company had its marching orders.

By mid afternoon, the entire regiment was swarming over the Gaines Cove property, sorting, cleaning, digging permanent latrines and generally setting things in order. Charlie set off to personally oversee clearing the stables.

--*--

Mrs. Williams entered the mercantile with a purpose. This was a very serious issue; somebody would have to find out if what she had been told was the truth. She stopped at the counter, waiting for the slightly frazzled man behind the counter to notice her. Finally, he looked up.